Hat welt and process of forming same



Dec. 11, 1928. 1,695,084

.w. BUSOLD HAT WELT AND PROCESS OF FORMING SAME Filed Aug. 10, 1927 dad/4am.-

INVENTOR.

BY z

ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 11, 19 28 UNITED. S AT S 1,695,084- oFFicE.

WILLIAM BUSOLD, on wnsr ORANGE, new JERSEY, ASSIGNOR mounts TRIMBLE HAT COMPANY, ononenen, new .i nnsnY, A oonronn'rron on NEW JERSEY.

HAT WELT AND IPEQOESS F FORMING SAIE'E.

Application filed August 10, 1927. Serial No. 211,906.

7 I a welt and perform all the useful functions of a welt; and that will be usable either alone or in conjunction with a welt; and that, when used as substitute for a welt, will cost much less in labor andmaterials than the welt edge.

I attain the foregoing objects and others hereinafter more particularly set forth by the hereinafter described process which will be better understood by reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a side View of a soft hat whose brim shows the finished edge embodying my invention; Figure 2 is a plan view of a portion of the brim shown in Figure 1, and Figure 3 is a view of said brim in vertical section. Figure 4c is a view similar to Figure 3, showing the edge produced when my process is applied to supplement the usual welt, the brim in this figure having an overturned welt. Figure 5 is a corresponding view of a brim having an underturned or reverse welt. Figure 6 is a side View in elevation of a tool or shackle adapted for use in the practice of my process and Figure 7 is a view of the bottom of said tool.

Like reference numerals indicate the same 'or like parts throughout these several figures, in which 1 is the body of a hat of felt or the like material and 2 is the brim. In Figures 1, 2 and 3 is shown a brim having the socalled raw edge 3. 4 is a groove in the up per side of this bram and 5 is a groove in the under side thereof. 6 is a welt on the brim, formed by overturning the edge upon the brim and stitching thereto. 7 is a reverse welt, the brim edge being turned back upon the underside of the brim and stitched therethrough. 8 is a tool adapted to produce the grooves adjacent the brim edge by compressbending, will retain the set given it.

the brim edge back upon itself with a curling iron, in the usual manner in which a welt is formed, and to secure the overturned edge by stitching with the usual welt-stitc'hiriginachine. As is understood by hat makers, if the edge is turned back on the upper side of the brim, the machine-stitching maybe all the way through or only partially through, so as not to show on the under side; but if the edge is turned back against the under side the brim to formwhat is termed a reverse welt, the stitching cannot be blind but must be all the way through the welt... This welt serves to finish the raw edge and to reenforce it so that the brim, when shaped by In practicing my invention as applied to a welted brim, the welt may be formed in either of these ways, and thereafter my invention is preferably practiced as follows: the brim edge is dampened and a depression is formed, by rolling or ironing, in the side opposite that on which the welt is over-lapped, adjacent the inner edge of the welt. This depression is formed by crushing the wetfelt with ahot iron, preferably by a shackle having an edge adapted to roll the felt intoa groove. The

heat of the iron will cause rapid evaporation of the moisture, and the felt will thus be shrunk to hold the groove impressed in it. This groove gives the appearance of a blind-- stitched welt, and produces the effect of a dou-' ble welt both in appearance and in the reenforcement of the brim by stiffening the edge. In lieu of forming a welt, as described, my invention particularly contemplates the attainment of the advantages of a welt both as to finish and brim-reenforcemen't, while dispensing entirely therewith. To this end, I form a groove adjacent the raw edge of the brim, upon one side therof and a second groove, upon the opposite side, parallel to the first but slightly offset therefrom. Preferably I form the groove in the upper side of the brim about one quarter of an inch from the edge, and the groove in the lower .side about one half of an inch from the edge. These'two grooves aifordsuch a thickening of the felt in the two depressed parts that the brim is stiffened adequately to retain its shape while permitting flexibility for bending to suit the individual taste and style of the wearer and to keep the set thus given it. As is obvious, when the double grooves are used in a r'awedge brim, all the steps of welts ing as now practiced may be dispensed with and the cost of labor in curling and stitching is saved.

By my process I produce the appearance of a double Welt, blind stitched on both sides, with all the advantages of a single Welt and at approximately a quarter of the cost.

I believe this substitute for the Welt and the method of forming either the double or single groov'e to be broadly new in hat-making, and therefore claim: p

1. A felt hat having a brim, a welt around the edge of said brim, and a permanent groove in the side of the brim opposite the Welt, the

grooved portion of the brim being shrunk l5 and having greater rigidity than the remaining portion of the brim, the welt side of the brim being smooth from the Welt to the crown.

2. A felt hat having a brim and a zone of shrunk compressed feltin said brim, adjacent 10 surfaces of the brim being smooth between 25 said groove and crown.

WILLIAM BU SOLD, 

